MTA Settlement
The Times’ March 1 editorial perpetuates many of the same myths it created four years ago about Shea-Kiewit-Kenny’s work constructing the MTA subway tunnel. The editorial implies that the subway is not safe because expansion gaps in the “outer walls” were filled with trash. This is false. The outer walls, or the initial tunnel support system, are designed to temporarily support the earth until the permanent lining is constructed. Hardwood blocks installed in the gaps held the ITSS ring in position. Small voids at either end of the hardwood were filled with mortar and wood. This filler material is not structural, but only provides backing for a plastic sheet between the ITSS and the final lining.
The ITSS performed exceptionally. In January 1994, the powerful Northridge earthquake rigorously tested the ITSS before any permanent tunnel lining had been built. While the earthquake left many buildings and surface structures ruined, the ITSS remained unscathed.
Your editorial called the SKK folks “cheerful” over the recent settlement with the MTA. The significant financial loss to the taxpayer and SKK is hardly cause to be cheerful. The firing of SKK sullied the reputations of three of the finest contractors in the U.S.
JOHN F. SHEA, President
J.F. Shea Co., Walnut
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